Eve and Jason Travel Oz: Valley of the Giants

The Valley of the Giants is located near Walpole, in south-western WA. Tony takes us on a tour of the forest. It is one of the only places in the world that contain the Red Tingle, a majestic eucalypt that has survived the perils of logging by being simply too difficult (its girth is too large), too dangerous (it falls without warning and can be unpredictable when sawn), and not economically viable (the wood is very damp and takes a long time to dry).

The tree grows for hundreds of years. Once it becomes around 200 years old, it starts to buttress, that is, the top of the tree stops growing up, and the base of the tree starts to grow out. These Tingles are not called 'giants' because of their height, but rather, their amazing girth, measuring up to 30 metres around.

Fires can, and do, occur in the forest, which tend to hollow out the base of tree, leaving it to resemble a giant person with enormous legs.

The Tingle has a very shallow and short root-base and so the trees can fall very easily and without warning. Red Tingles contain large burls and one large tree at the entrance to the forest is nicknamed

"Grandma Tingle" because of the face-shaped burls along its trunk.

The Treetop Walk stretches for 600m across the top of this forest. It gives you a fantastic perspective of your surrounds, and you can get up close and personal with some of the giants as you stroll around the canopy along the wobbly suspension bridge, 40m above ground.

Tony is very passionate about the Red Tingle, and we enjoy his very decorative descriptions of how nature
operates in his neck of the woods.
As an example, "Some people will tell you that Quokkas only exist in Rottnest Island. That's bullshit! The little buggers are everywhere in here; see there - they live in 'runnels', there's some runnels right there!"
And you should hear him discuss how the native wasp pollinates the orchids!!!